By Philip Sedgwick

A MIDDLEHAM couple who have expanded their newsagent’s business say that printed newspapers are still popular.

Rachael and Tony Hewson have jointly run Central Stores in Middleham for ten years and have now taken over the former Towler’s Shop in Leyburn.

The couple come from Darlington and moved to Middleham in 1999 to run the Stable Door Restaurant.

Mr Hewson, a former Royal Navy-trained chef, and his wife Rachael, a graduate in international hospitality and management, then ran the Priory Guest House prior to their purchase of Central Stores in 2007.

They are now responsible for delivering newspapers to most of the outlying villages in Lower Wensleydale, including more than 800 copies of the D & S Times, along with its sister paper the Northern Echo.

Mrs Hewson said: “Having a paper is a vital link for some of the more isolated villages where it isn’t always possible to drive and collect one.”

Now the two shops employ 25 staff between them and the couple have plans to further develop the Leyburn side of the business. Mr Hewson explained: “We wanted to expand the business and when this opportunity arose we were extremely interested.

“We want to introduce more locally-themed products; a good example is we now stock Wensleydale Ice Cream, my son Tom spotted it on a school trip and virtually arranged the deal himself .

“It has been a good move for us and we have been made very welcome by the other businesses in the town.”